Blast Movie Review:
Choices. A lot about a person can be known by the choices they make. The same holds true for a filmmaker, whose decisions on camera angles, narrative detours, character depth, use of musical cues, and the scenes chosen and left at the editing table prove their mettle. The same holds true for an actor, whose decisions on whether they accept to do a full-fledged role, or a glorified cameo, or an important yet minuscule part, appear in a ‘special’ dance number, or a ‘friendly appearance,’ or play a role that doesn’t add anything anywhere except to the bank balance, decide their worth. But what happens when the Yhprum’s Law is in full force, and almost every choice, despite a few hurdles, ends up for the greater good? You get Subash K Raj’s debut film, Blast, starring Arjun, Abhirami, and Preity Mukhundhan.
Blast Movie Director: Subash K Raj
Blast Movie Cast: Arjun, Abhirami, Preity Mukhundhan, Arjun Chidambaram
The film begins with a simple message that a karate master Rajaraman (Arjun), imparts to his young daughter, Nila. When she comes home crying after being hit by a young boy, she is asked a very important question: “Who was at fault?” And only when she says it is the boy who is at fault, her father eggs her on to give it back in kind, much to the chagrin of his wife, Neelaveni (Abhirami), simply because they won’t be there forever to help her out in times of need. As this young one grows up to be a karate-chopping, pharmacy-working, no-nonsense woman (Preity Mukhundhan), she brings much bigger problems home, and her parents rally around her, grudgingly or otherwise, to ensure justice is served, like freshly made home-cooked meals.
Now, why would a simple middle-class family have to become a mean killing machine with an agenda that is more John Wick territory than Drishyam? That is where the film takes the convoluted route, which includes a ruthless assassin, Abraham (Arjun Chidambaram), a ruthless corporate criminal, Varun Dayalan (John Kokken), a ruthless local gangster, Kirubhakaran (Pavan), a ruthless henchman, Toby (Vinod Sagar), and a conscientious cop (Dileepan). These portions go around in circles before landing at Nila’s doorstep.
While convenience in these scenes is par for the course, what becomes squeamish is its rather pedestrian nature. It is clear that these scenes are just fillers to let the action blocks begin. Also, it is hilarious how most of these ruthless men are portrayed as physically strong people, but not the brightest bulb in town. At one point, a henchman actually says, “They seem to be one step ahead of us…” This is something we have often heard the cops say, and it is nice to have the criminals say it on screen.
Director Subash isn’t using these scenes as steps to reach the high moments, but elevators to zoom right to the elevations. And that is aplenty in Blast. Preity’s Nila is the soul of the film, and never for a moment does the focus move away from her to include the superstar stature of Arjun and Abhirami. While it is slightly disappointing that Abhirami’s Neelaveni is majorly seen as the nagging mother or the nagging housewife, the moment she becomes ‘Martial arts mom’ from ‘Marriage-pushing mom,’ things get far better, and Abhirami feels much more at home. Also, why doesn’t she have a single scene outside the confines of the home? She either walks in and out of the kitchen, kicks and punches someone straight on to the kitchen shelves, or does her tailoring duties. Curious choice, though. Even more curious than the sudden pathos-inducing detour it takes that feels super out of place, and out of character.
Arjun happily plays second fiddle to both Abhirami and Preity, and it must have been a refreshing change of pace for the actor who has often been forced to single-handedly save an entire nation. Nila is consistently on the attack, and full points to Preity for being a convincing damsel putting others in distress. Every kick, every punch, every chop, every leg-lock, every flying attack, every sliding one, every defensive block, and every skull smashed is expertly executed by Preity.
While it is understandable that the protagonists are accorded the ‘mass’ moments in the film, Subash understands the need for pitting them against all-powerful villains. The way the writing organically incorporates such moments for Arjun Chidambaram’s Abraham was particularly impressive. Instead of just being the ‘other Arjun’ in the film, he gets to call the shots and brings in a lot of gravitas to a character that is often one-note in our action films. Vivek Prasanna, as Rajaraman’s brother, Ilango, makes his case yet again for being an actor that shouldn’t be boxed into any category.
If the performances and the writing are the pillars that elevate this structure, it is the music, stunts, and visuals that keep it in place. Ravi Basrur, in his Tamil debut, keeps the adrenaline pumping and makes us forget that we are watching more of the same. Points to stunt choreographer Phoenix Prabhu for ensuring that, despite the limited locations, every fight seems unique. One might think there are only so many variations you can bring to a fight orchestrated within the walls of a 2 bedroom house. But Prabhu manages to surprise us and design believable stunts that are also not easy to try at home. It is both cinematic and real, and Arun Radhakrishnan’s camera does the balancing act with ease.
In a way, Blast is about people not taking a woman seriously. When we see Nila walk into a rowdy’s lair for the first time, she is brushed past by his henchmen who are searching for the ‘man’ who sent a goon flying into the living room. When a bigger villain sees the father-daughter duo travelling in their humble bike, he looks for virile young men when searching for the one who wiped out his henchmen in a dilapidated factory. When we see Nila being a victim of workplace harassment, give it back with gusto, the other men look at the battered harasser and think he had his way with her, and not that he got beaten up black and blue. Of course, it might not have been the smartest decision to treat this as a comedy, but catharsis, sometimes, comes with a laugh, too.
It is such choices and consequences that form the base of Blast. And it is best exemplified in one scene where Arjun looks at Preity and asks… “What should we do?” Remember Reese Witherspoon’s speech at the 2015 Women of the Year Awards at Glamour where she says that making the woman ask, “What do we do now?” to a man, is the most reductive of dialogues that relegate women to one-note characters that are far away from reality? The very fact that the entire film hinges on a woman deciding to stand up for what’s right and tell every single character in the film what to do is a deliberate, distinctive, and decisive choice made by Subash and team. And that choice will have the choicest of consequences for everyone involved in Blast, for sure.
